How to Play

Raiders of Scythia

1-4 players 60-80 min 7.7 Board Game Geek Rating

Players become Scythian warriors assembling crews, training animals, and gathering provisions to raid settlements across ancient lands. Victory points are earned through successful raids, collecting plunder, and completing quests. The game concludes when only two unraided settlements or two quests remain on the board, with the highest-scoring player winning.

Published 2020

Raiders of Scythia

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

1
Place the main board
Position the Main Board in the center of the playing area
2
Set up village quests
Shuffle the Quests and place 1 faceup on each of the 2 spaces in the Scythian Village
3
Distribute raid quests
Place 1 Quest facedown on each Raid Space in Cimmeria, Assyria and Persia
4
Prepare the plunder bag
Place all Gold, Equipment, Wagons and Livestock into the Plunder Bag and mix well
5
Place plunder on raid spaces
Randomly draw and place the required number of Plunder onto each Raid Space as indicated by the blue Plunder icon
6
Create main supply
Place all Silver, Kumis, Provisions, Wounds and Dice near the board
7
Position raid workers
Place 1 Worker of the indicated color above each raid space
8
Set up village workers
Place 1 Blue Worker on each of the Town Centre, Meeting Tent and Market
9
Distribute player components
Give each player 1 Player Board, 1 Score Marker (place on 0 VP), 3 Silver, and 1 Provision
10
Give starting workers
Give each player 1 Blue Worker; return unused Workers to the box
11
Prepare card decks
Shuffle Hero, Crew and Animal Cards into separate facedown Draw Piles
12
Display animals
Reveal the top 3 Animal Cards faceup in a line next to the board
13
Reveal hero options
Reveal a number of Hero Cards equal to the number of players plus 1
14
Pair heroes with crew
Reveal 1 Crew Card alongside each Hero Card to create pairs
15
Select starting pairs
In reverse turn order, each player selects 1 Hero/Crew pair
16
Place hero and crew
Place chosen Hero on the left-most space of Player Board, Crew Card to the right
17
Remove unused heroes
Return unselected Hero Card and Hero Draw Pile to the box
18
Set up crew deck
Place Crew Draw Pile near the board; unselected Crew Card forms the Discard Pile
19
Draft starting hand
Deal each player 5 Crew Cards; keep 3 and discard 2

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Choose your action type
On each turn, choose to either Work or Raid
2
Follow turn structure
Every turn follows the same pattern regardless of choice
3
Place worker at building
Place your Worker from Personal Supply onto any available Building without a Worker
4
Resolve placement action
Immediately use that Building's action once (optional)
5
Pick up different worker
Take 1 of the 3 Workers that were in the Village at the start of your turn
6
Resolve pickup action
Use that Building's action once (optional)
7
Note worker restrictions
Blue Workers cannot be placed at Stables or Chief's Tent (require Grey or Red)
8
Use the Stables
Spend 2 Silver to gain any 1 Eagle, OR spend 1 Equipment to gain any 1 Horse from the 3 faceup Animal Cards
9
Use the Barracks
Hire 1 Crew from hand by paying Silver cost and placing on Player Board, OR spend 1 Kumis to remove 2 Wounds from Crew
10
Use the Silversmith
Gain Silver from Main Supply based on Worker color
11
Use the Farm
Gain Provisions or Wagon based on Worker color
12
Use the Chief's Tent
Spend 1 Livestock to gain 2 Provisions and 1 Kumis, OR complete 1 faceup Quest
13
Use the Town Centre
Play 1 Card from hand (discard and take bottom-right action), OR use Hero's ability, OR use ability of an Eagle equipped to Crew
14
Use the Meeting Tent
Draw 2 Cards from Crew Draw Pile, OR draw 1 Card and gain 2 Kumis
15
Use the Market
Discard 1 Card to gain 2 Silver, OR discard 2 Cards to gain 1 Wagon or 1 Equipment
16
Meet raid requirements
To raid a Settlement, you must have the required Worker color, large enough Crew, and enough Provisions and Wagons
17
Place worker on settlement
Place your Worker on one of the Settlement's Worker Spots (remains for rest of game)
18
Pay raid costs
Pay required Provisions and Wagons to Main Supply
19
Spend kumis optionally
Spend Kumis to Main Supply for 1 temporary Strength per Kumis
20
Roll required dice
Roll the indicated Red and White Dice, plus Yellow Dice equal to Raid Spaces with Gold present
21
Calculate total strength
Add Kumis spent, Dice numbers, Crew/Animal Strength, and Crew ability bonuses
22
Determine raid outcome
Compare Strength to Settlement thresholds to gain VP or take Wounds
23
Collect rewards
Select 1 remaining Raid Space and take its Plunder and Worker
24
Reveal quest
If there was a Quest under collected Plunder, turn it faceup on the board
25
Assign wounds to crew
Place Wounds from Main Supply onto Crew Cards (not Heroes or Animals)
26
Track wound limits
Each Crew can take Wounds equal to their Strength; each Wound reduces Strength by 1
27
Handle crew death
If Crew at 0 Strength takes another Wound, they die—return Wounds to supply and discard Crew Card
28
Note wound permanence
Wounds cannot transfer between Crew; only removed through death, Barracks healing, or Town Centre effects
29
Observe personal limits
Players cannot have more than 8 Silver, 8 Provisions, 8 Kumis, or 8 Cards in hand at end of turn

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Trigger game end
The game ends when only 2 Raid Spaces OR 2 Quests (faceup or facedown) remain on the Main Board
2
Complete final turns
Current player finishes their turn, then each player (including current) takes 1 final turn
3
Score crew cards
Gain VP as shown on bottom-left section of some Crew Cards
4
Score animal cards
Gain VP as shown on top section of some Animal Cards
5
Score completed quests
Gain VP as shown on each Quest collected
6
Score plunder
Calculate VP for collected Plunder
7
Determine the winner
Player with highest total VP wins
8
Break ties
First tiebreaker: most total Quests, Crew and Animals
9
Track high scores
If reaching 50 VP, stand Score Marker on its side at 0 and continue; if reaching 100 VP, loop again and add 100 to position

watch & Learn

Let the pros teach you with these top videos.

Hoe speel je... Rovers van Scythië

Hoe speel je... Rovers van Scythië

Instructional

Kości PLAY - Najeźdźcy ze Scytii (zasady + rozgrywka)

Kości PLAY - Najeźdźcy ze Scytii (zasady + rozgrywka)

Instructional

MORE VIDEOS

FULL rules

Looking for the full details? Grab the complete rulebook as a downloadable PDF.

Play Board Games Online

Explore breakout hits and fan favourites with no downloads, setup or paywalls. Just click and play.

Play Now

more GAMES LIKE THIS